Crash
by StephanieIrvine
Summary: He picked her up at the side of the road, he never expected this to happen. But he'd never complain. Chris Irvine and Stephanie McMahon.


**A/N: **This story came about from a prompt Nina gave me, because I couldn't think of anything at all. I'm glad she gave me this, because at first I was struggling slightly and then the story just took off like crazy and 4,000 plus words later this is the end result. I hope you enjoy. Reviews are love.

**Disclaimer:** Chris and Stephanie own themselves, but I heard a rumor that they belonged to each other….numerous times.

**XXXX**

Why'd it always have to fucking rain in this God forsaken state? Why? The rain was a never-ending downpour, tainting every damn thing outside the car he was in. He hated Seattle, hated it with a passion. It was dark and he was already about an hour late for tonight's Raw - he had an hour before the damn show went to air - and he was still trying to look for signs to the fucking arena. _He fucking hated Seattle, with its fucking rain that made him unable to see any road signs and God, he hated it! _Granted, his hatred and dark mood could be due to the fact that he'd just discovered his wife, or as he like to refer to her now - the brutal skank - had been cheating on him, for two fucking years.

How could that bitch do that to him? To their family? They had a damn son together and she had ruined that. He'd threw her out on her ass, slammed the door shut and not bothered to look back. Ash was with his father back in Florida, he was fighting for sole custody and he was confident he'd get it. He'd discovered some other, _unpleasant_, things about Jessica and to give her custody would just be a shameful misjudgment from the justice system.

He looked up and peered out the car window and yet again he cursed Seattle and it's fucking joke of a directional system, seriously they couldn't make it a _little _easier to navigate? Sighing, he took his foot off the gas and slowed down – his mood combined with this laughable weather probably wasn't going to predict a great outcome with some tree or electrical pole some place down the road. _Breathe,_ he told himself _just let it all go._ But it was hard, it was nine years. Nine faithful years on his end. He could have strayed and God help him she flashed in his mind even now, had she just leaned in, maybe, just maybe he wouldn't be so torn up about this sudden turn of events. But she hadn't and he was, and he fucking hated that slut he had lovingly called his wife for so long.

_Bitch._

There was a flashing up ahead – warning lights of a car on its way to the scrap heap - and he thought about slowing down and stopping and helping because usually that was the type of man he was. He was helpful and honest and not an adulterer. He didn't let another woman warm his bed, but his wife – _ex-wife_ – she had no problem what so ever. So he stepped on the gas and he wasn't stopping for nothing. Nothing at all and then he noticed her. _How could he not notice her?_ She was soaked to the skin and every single car whizzed on past her and he knew he couldn't drive past her.

_Don't be stupid, you could never leave her behind._

He hit his indicator and pulled into the side of the road, cut off his engine and opened his car door. He was soaked much like she was, mere seconds after closing the door behind him. He shivered as he pulled his jacket closer to him, it was cold and the rain was just making it all the worse, hitting him and cutting into him like minute razors. He hurried over to her and noted with slight amusement she seemed cautious – she obviously didn't recognize him. He just hoped he got a chance to let her know who he was before she possibly bitch slapped him too hell, she always did have a mean slap.

"Stephanie?" he called out, and he could see her looking at him quizzically. "It's Chris." He let her know.

He saw her relax and he took that to mean that a) she recognized his voice and b) she knew which Chris he meant. "Are you okay?" he asked, and even he noted the worry in his own voice and that threw him slightly and from the looks of thing, Stephanie as well.

"Just a little car trouble, and the fact that people are a bunch of assholes." She commented and he saw her shiver.

"Been out here long?" he asked her while taking off his jacket and walking over to her. He had it around her shoulders before she even had time to argue and _he knew_ she'd argue. Always stubborn that girl. It was one of the things he'd come too really like about Stephanie, she always stuck to what she thought was right and more often than not, she was. It was an endearing quality. She had a lot of those, but was now really the time to let his mind wander and think about them?

"About an hour, I got lost and then," she told him with a pause while pulling his jacket around her and then pointing at her car. "smoke."

Smoke tended to be a bad thing, in cars especially. He doubted he could fix it, not that he was the slightest bit mechanically minded to begin with. Sure it could have been a blown radiator and the chances of him actually locating the radiator…well they were slim. "Need a lift?" he could offer that at least, and they were going to the same place. _If_ they could actually find the fucking place.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" That was Stephanie, always worried about taking someone else for granted. It was refreshing, after all, all Jessica ever did was take him for granted. _Chris buy me this, Chris buy me that, Chris go out of town for a few weeks so I can fuck my best friend in our bed._ He wasn't bitter, so much as he was pissed at that – that was a comfortable bed after all and he'd had to get rid of it and it took a lot of shopping to find one just as comfortable.

"Not at all," He told her with a smile and it occurred to him, that he hadn't smiled much lately. It was weird he mused to himself, that seeing Stephanie was what caused him to smile and lift his mood – but as he thought back she did have that effect on him. There was the time when he'd first won the title from Paul only to have it back around the other man's waist at the end of the night, she'd come to see him afterwards, told him he'd done a great job and smiled at him. They hadn't been close then, not that they were ever really close, but he remembered when they were business partners and she'd hugged him after the crowd had booed them so hard that it resonated throughout the whole arena, they could have been close then. She just had to lean in. He would have had Paul not walked through the door making Stephanie jump out of his arms like he'd set her on fire.

She'd set a fire burning in him. He could still poke at the embers and make it flair, well looking at Stephanie caused that to happen. Okay, so looking at Stephanie caused it to ignite and explode into a million flickers of colors, but that was way back when and now it was nothing. He shouldn't be thinking this anyway, she was married and he was just about to step foot into a nasty divorce with a bitch of a woman he had the displeasure to call the mother of his child.

"I don't want to be an inconvenience."

"Steph," He hadn't called her that in forever and it just rolled off of his tongue. "Get in the car, you're soaked to the bone." He spoke with a laugh as the walked over to his car. He opened the door for her and she gave him a smile as she hopped in. He cursed silently, because that smile always stirred something inside him and tonight was no different. Shit, he was in trouble.

After getting in the car himself, he started it up and they were on the road again and the silence was overbearing. It wasn't like it was awkward or anything and it wasn't Stephanie's fault, she'd tried to make conversation but all Chris could think about was the fact that she was sitting next to him and he could smell her perfume and those embers, they were glowing brighter.

"How's Paul?" Distraction. Talking about her husband would make them die out, and he couldn't help but think it a good save, because it was getting harder to stop himself from doing or saying something he knew he'd regret in the long run. Because this thing between them, it wasn't even between them, it was him. He was the only one feeling this, he was making it into something it wasn't. Stephanie was married and shockingly it wasn't to him. He'd missed his chance, not that there ever was a chance, again he was making something out of nothing. Stephanie and he were barely even friends. He was just out of a marriage and he was transferring feelings onto Stephanie, that's what all this was. Transference. And okay, so yes there might have been an odd time or two….or six (he lost count after six) throughout those nine years when he was married to that bitch where he was with her, _romantically_, and Stephanie may have came to mind, but that didn't mean a _thing._

Paul. She's married to Paul. They'll have kids and they'll celebrate their marriage for years to come and he'd find a girl, one who won't cheat or be an utter skank and he'll love her and they'll have kids as well and he'll be happy. Maybe he'll wonder what could have been, but could have been is all it'll ever be because Stephanie's married and he's separated and no matter how he tries to think a loop hole where it would make what he's thinking just, he can't and no matter how much of an ass Paul may be, he won't cause the man the same kind of hurt he felt when he walked in on Jessica in their bed.

It wasn't meant to be. He'd keep repeating that and they'd make it to the arena (if these signs ever fucking directed them the right way) and go their separate ways and that'd be it. He'd see her at the odd show when she wasn't busy and he'd smile and she'd smile back and that would be all they'd have. He was fine with that, it wasn't like he was in love with her. _He wasn't_.

It wasn't meant to be. Yeah, repeat that. It wasn't mean-

"We're divorced." She said it so simply that he wasn't sure if he was just imagining it or not, but she continued and he knew it hadn't been. "We have been for almost six months. We just keep it quiet, I can't be dealing with all the unwanted attention I'd get now that I'm available." Yeah, he wouldn't be happy with all the unwanted attention she'd be getting either. "Like honestly, just because my last name is McMahon, doesn't mean I'm going to hand you the title. That's what Paul couldn't handle. I said no one too many times and suggested other names for the title. He didn't care for it, we fought and I realized I couldn't be dealing with his shit, so I ended it."

"He must have been so happy." Chris commented with the slightest hint of amusement. He didn't want to out right laugh but the image of Paul being told no was almost too funny to contain. He wondered who the other names she'd put forward were. He would bet John Cena, since that man could do no wrong. After all, it wasn't about talent, more about how much merchandise you brought in from the crowd.

"Understatement." Stephanie scoffed with a roll of her eyes and again he smiled, because that was just such a Stephanie reaction. There was a time at her fathers Christmas party where Shane had got unbelievably drunk and announced to the entire room that Stephanie still slept with her bear from when she was a kid. Stephanie had glared, shrugged and told everyone she did. She'd also told them, anyone she caught laughing at her would get fired. He wasn't sad to see Kelly Kelly go, the girl was hardly talented. "He was so childish and wouldn't speak to me for about a week. I had to call Shawn to tell him I was filing for divorce."

"I bet Shawn was happy." Chris snickered. There was no denying how much Shawn disliked Stephanie. Chris wasn't sure if it was because she took Paul away from Shawn and Shawn never got time with his best friend or because…well those were rumors, so he'd stick with the best friend thing.

Stephanie turned to him then and smirked. He found it hard to concentrate on the road when she did. "He did seem extremely joyful. The next thing I knew Paul was almost breaking down the door to get in to talk me into reconsidering. I thought his reaction to me suggesting your name for the title was bad, but his reaction to me filing for divorce was much worse."

She'd suggested his name? Wow, he was speechless. "You suggested me?"

"Who was I going to suggest Chris, Cena?" she questioned with a scoff. "He can barely wrestle. You could lead this company and make it great."

That was praise. He thought he did a decent job every night he went out into the ring and entertained the crowd and he didn't ask for much, the title would come to him when it was his turn, but he did like a little recognition for the job he did and _that_, what Stephanie had just said to him made everything he did night in and night out worth it. He'd go out there and fight every night if she said she enjoyed watching him and thought he could carry this company. "Thank you."

"It's only the truth." She told him with a smile. "Shane and I are just waiting for my father to hand one of us power and we're going to do great things with it. First thing is Champions and your name is at the top of my list."

He wanted to kiss her. God, the urge was overwhelming him and he couldn't concentrate on anything. He focused on the road and noted with utter panic he'd veered onto on coming traffic. "Shit!" he shouted as he pulled the steering wheel to the right. Stephanie yelled his name and her arms were covering her head and she was bracing for impact and he was ready for it as well, but he managed to skid to a halt and by some luck – he didn't know if it was divine intervention or what – they managed to stay upright.

He looked over at Stephanie and noted she was still covering her head and she was shaking. He was as well, but that didn't stop him from pulling off his seatbelt and crawling over to her. He pulled at her arms gently, he needed to make sure she was okay, he had to see her eyes. If he saw her eyes everything would be okay, her eyes were as telling as a book he could read them so well. How he could didn't occur to him just then, but he could and he needed to see them so he could tell if she was okay. "Stephanie," his voice rang out, his panic clear. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…I'm fine." She stuttered out, her eyes looking up and into his own. He could tell she was shaken, but otherwise she was anything but hurt.

"I am _so_ sorry." Chris rushed out. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to Stephanie that he could have prevented. He needed to keep her safe, she meant to much to him for him to intentionally hurt her. Sure, there may have been times when he called her names and had her in his signature moves, but his stomach always dropped when he saw other wrestlers do that to her. There'd been many times when he'd seen her land awkwardly and all he'd want to do was rush out there and carry her to the back and make her better. But storylines didn't permit him too so he had to settle for staying in the back and watch as Paul took care of her. He was almost a hundred percent positive he hated that man the most for that.

"It's okay, we're fine." Stephanie told him and they were but he couldn't take his hands off of her. He had to hold on to her, to let himself know that she was alive beneath his fingertips. He felt his eyes slide to a close as her own fingertips trailed up his arms and across his shoulders until they cupped his face. "Chris," she whispered. "I'm okay. You can breathe now."

He opened his eyes and Stephanie's were staring right into his own and he couldn't tell you who leaned in first all he could comprehend were his lips were touching hers and it felt like he'd come home. His hand crept up to her neck – slowly so he didn't scare her, least he jolt her back to reality – and pulled her towards him. In that moment he didn't know what excited him more, the fact that she was flush against him or that she'd come across to him so willingly. He guessed it was a mixture of both.

"Wait," Stephanie gasped as she pulled away from him. "Stop."

He knew it was too good to be true. This was never meant to happen.

"You're married." She muttered more to herself than to Chris, but Chris heard it and his heart picked up some pace. That's what was stopping her? Maybe this was meant to happen.

"No, I'm not." Chris let her know with a smile. "Well, I am – but not for much longer. She cheated on me, and I don't know about you but I don't like finding my wife in bed with another man."

"Oh," Stephanie commented at a lose for what to say and he was about a second away from speaking up again when she smiled that damn smile and he couldn't quite find the words to say anything, or speak at all. He was glad she did. "So what's stopping us?"

He never got to answer her, because her lips were back on his own and well he preferred it that way. He couldn't really explain how it felt, well he could but it was pointless because it was different for everyone, wasn't it? To Chris if felt like home, like he'd thought earlier. He felt content, he'd kissed Jessica and there were times when he felt happy but there was always that voice in the back of his head that yelled for perfection. The two kisses he'd shared with Stephanie in the space of what, a minute or two? That voice was silenced.

"I think you could make me happy." He spoke out loud what he only meant to think. He felt Stephanie smile against his lips and he didn't care he'd let it slip.

She deepened the kiss, running her tongue along his bottom lip and he welcomed her and their tongue battled until a moan filled the car and everything was a haze after that, he couldn't tell you anything in detail he just felt. Felt his fingers roam over her body, finding hidden paths that had been covered. He followed those paths over the peaks and valleys of her body and every time he heard her moan or gasp his name he lingered for a moment or two more. It got too much before long and they needed skin against skin, so they tumbled to the back seat laughing, tangling shirts and tops in their attempt to get them and freeing their skin. Their laughter stopped and turned to heavy breathing when their hands trailed all over each other and dipped down past barriers that hadn't yet been removed.

Chris arched up into her touch when she touched him _there_. It was like her touch was a blaze of heat that he ached for in his dreams but never knew until right in this moment. God, he needed her in every way. He called out her name and pulled her to him. They kissed which such a hunger that one would think that they'd been waiting for this since they first understood what a kiss was and what it could make you feel and maybe they had. Maybe, in the grand scheme of things, of life - two people in the mass of billions out there find each other and when they kiss, _they know_. They know that there is no one out there that they would rather be with, that the voices in their minds that crave for more have been frozen for ever more, because they're insignificant now, they're not needed. The need for more, is not a need anymore – the want is gone, because it's been found.

Chris had found, and he was happy with what he'd found.

The touches increased and both were gasping for breath, but Chris couldn't stop for breath, he wouldn't he needed it all and he gripped Stephanie's waist and pulled her up and _God he could feel her_. She was burning and when he slid into her they gasped in sync and she gripped his shoulders and his own grip tightened around her waist. He couldn't move, he wanted to – his mind was crying out for him to just rock back and forth and feel this sensation, but he was lost in another sensation altogether. His mind was fighting to stay conscious, he wanted to remember the feeling of her around him, how she clenched and tightened as she tried to get him to move, how her nails dug into him even more because he held her hips tight, stopping her from moving and how she gasped out his name in a cry because she needed to move.

He felt her circle her hips and that was his undoing, he let out a gruntel moan and he was moving and she was falling onto his chest gasping in his ear and all he could hear was her begging him to move faster, harder. Telling him she needed to feel all of him inside her, how she wanted his hands all over her. She was going to be his undoing, she was – her words combined with her hands scraping down his chest and her lips on his throat were going to reduce him to a quivering wreck in a matter of seconds. Not that Stephanie was faring any better, she had been meeting his rhythm – sliding into him as he slide back, but now her hips were going at a frantic pace and he couldn't catch his breath and neither could she and the next thing he knew she was laying on his chest panting and her name was falling from his lips over and over.

They lay there for a while, she could hear his heartbeat – she'd listened to it go from its frantic beating to a steady pace and Chris was lost in thought. He almost wished this had happened earlier in their relationship, which he realized was a lot more intertwined than he had led himself to believe. There were too many moments and touches for them to be considered friends, but their hadn't been enough to be considered more than friends and maybe that was a good thing, because well he took in the events of tonight, look where it had led them. He was going to hold on to Stephanie, he wasn't going to let this slip through his fingers and miss out on whatever this was. He didn't know what it was and he was sure she didn't know either, hadn't expected tonight to end up quite the way it ended.

"I think I've loved you for a long time," he whispered as he held her to him. "I just didn't realize it until tonight."

He hadn't meant to say it, hadn't even been thinking it, but he realized it was the truth and he was tired of hiding the truth and having the truth being kept from him. He wasn't expecting her to say it back to him, it was too soon for that, but she didn't jump from his arms from the confession either so he took that as a promising sign.

"I think I could love you Chris," she told him leaning up and kissing the corner of his mouth. "Easily."

Maybe Seattle wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
